Former Fox News editor who called Arizona for Biden said Cyber ​​Ninjas audit was meant to undermine confidence in the election

• Former Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt addressed the Arizona audit during an appearance on CNN.

• He called this a ploy to undermine the bottom line, not a real attempt to prove or disprove the fraud.

• Stirewalt says he was fired by Fox News for calling Arizona for Joe Biden on election night.

• See more stories on the Insider business page.

The former Fox News editor who split off from the right-wing network after calling Arizona for Joe Biden in last year’s election has weighed in on the controversial audit of votes in the state led by Cyber ​​Ninjas company.

In an appearance on CNN’s “Newsroom” on Sunday, host Jim Acosta asked former Fox News Digital Politics editor Chris Stirewalt about the vote recount in Arizona’s Maricopa County.

The audit had been publicized by supporters of Donald Trump who claimed he would uncover evidence of a plot to deprive Trump of victory.

But his results, released last week, concluded that Biden had indeed won the state, by a margin slightly larger than the official tally.

Stirewalt claims his involvement in Fox News’ decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden before any further news cost him his job.

Fox News challenged his account, claiming he was fired as part of a restructuring program.

Acosta asked Stirewalt on Sunday if he felt justified by the result of the audit, and he said no.

“The very act of doing it is the wrong thing,” Stirewalt said, regardless of the outcome.

“The purpose of these is to undermine confidence. That’s not what the conclusion is,” Stirewalt said. “So I don’t take any satisfaction or pleasure in seeing this result which roughly matches the actual results. They are doing their damage anyway.”

Arizona’s call stunned Trump’s White House at the time, with the former president deploying his son-in-law Jared Kushner to pressure the network to take it back. Biden was the first Democrat in decades to win the state.

The story continues

Arizona’s defeat continues to fix Trump and his allies. Republican-controlled state Senate asked Cyber ​​Ninjas to audit votes after former president spent months sparking conspiracy theories the election was tainted of mass fraud.

The audit, which lasted eight months and was beset by accusations of negligence and partisan bias, concluded last week that Biden did indeed win the state, according to the official result.

Stirewalt in an article for the Los Angeles Times said he had become the target of “murderous rage” over the Arizona appeal, which other outlets, including Insider, also did within days. that followed. This was confirmed by the official vote count.

Stirewalt then expressed his “sincere sympathy for those who have been duped” by the electoral fraud conspiracy theories, and said he had “nothing but contempt for those who continue to promulgate” these ideas.

“The aim is to undermine the confidence of voters in the process,” Stirewalt said. “Unfortunately, members of both parties are used to doing this these days. But we have a direct attack on the legitimacy of our election. It’s a problem, and you can’t get away, Republican Party . “

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